Easter Dinner

Recipe: Lamb shanks slowly braised in red wine, rosemary and thyme

Curtis Stone

Ingredients

• 6 1-pound lamb shanks
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 head garlic, halved crosswise
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 celery stalks, 2 coarsely chopped and 1 finely diced
• 3 carrots, peeled, 2 coarsely chopped and 1 finely diced
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 8 cups lamb stock or beef stock
• 1 1/3 cups dry red wine

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Starting at 1-inch from the narrow end of each shank, score the meat, sinew and fat around the bone (this will help release the meat from the bone as it cooks). Sprinkle the lamb shanks with salt.
Whisk the flour, paprika and cayenne pepper in a large bowl. Coat the lamb shanks thoroughly in the flour mixture. Reserve 3 tablespoons of the remaining flour mixture.
Heat 4 tablespoons of oil in a large wide Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the lamb shanks and decrease the heat to medium. Cook for 10 minutes, or until the shanks are brown on all sides. Transfer the shanks to a baking sheet.
Drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in the Dutch oven and add the garlic, and coarsely chopped onions, carrots and celery. Cook for 8 minutes over medium heat, or until the vegetables begin to brown. Sprinkle the reserved 3 tablespoons of flour mixture over the vegetables and stir to coat. Using the back of a large knife, gently pound the rosemary and thyme to help release their flavors. Add the rosemary, thyme and bay leaves to the vegetable mixture. Cook for 2 minutes, or until the flour mixture is golden brown. Stir in the tomatoes, then the stock and wine.
Return the lamb shanks to the Dutch oven. Cover and braise in the oven for 3 hours, or until the lamb is tender.
Transfer the lamb shanks to a baking sheet and cover them with foil and keep warm. Place the Dutch oven over medium-high heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Carefully strain the sauce through a fine-meshed strainer and into a medium saucepan. Discard the solids from the strainer. Skim off the fat that rises to the top of the sauce.
Simmer the sauce uncovered for 15 minutes, or until reduced to 4 cups. Add the finely diced carrots and celery and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Place 1 lamb shank on each of 6 plates. Spoon the sauce and vegetables over the lamb and serve.

Serving Size

6 servings